The American anti-colonial tradition and international accountability for dependent peoples : a study of the American role in the establishment of the League of Nations mandates system and the United Nations trusteeship system

Author:

Cosgrove, Kenneth Joseph

Awarding Body:

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

Current Institution:

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

This thesis examines the American anti-colonial tradition's role in establishing the principle of international accountability for administering dependent peoples in the League of Nations mandates and the United Nations trusteeship systems. Where relevant, British ideas and schemes are compared with American ones in so far as this helps to understand the latter and where the final outcomes were based on Anglo-American compromises. It contributes to the literature on international relations in two main areas. First, it analyses the formulation, development and inter-relation of the American anticolonial tradition and international accountability. Second, it is the first study of the interplay of those two concepts within the context of differing Anglo-American views on creating the mandates and trusteeship systems. There are eight chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the main objectives and themes. Chapters 2 and 3, the conceptual heart of the thesis, examine imperial and colonial relationships, the American anti-colonial tradition, and international accountability for dependent peoples. Chapter 4 focuses on the interplay of those concepts and the American role in establishing the League mandates system. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 do the same regarding the United Nations trusteeship system. Chapter 7 also contains a postscript on trusteeship developments since 1945. Chapter 8 summarises the thesis' conclusions. Throughout, the methodological approach is analytical and historical rather than theoretical. The overall conclusion is that so long as the national interests of the United States were protected, the American anti-colonial tradition did play the major role in establishing the principle of international accountability within both the mandates and the trusteeship systems. The determination and anti-colonial sentiments of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt were especially important. American policy was usually based on the right of all peoples to freedom; the practical application of this precept hastened the demise of Western European-style colonialism.